Does Love Die?
by TehPandamizer
Summary: As the sequel to my other story 'What is Love' this one does not begin on a light note but instead with a large tragedy. Will Atrus be able to continue take care of his new daughter and will Anna ever recover from losing something so very dear to her her
1. Chapter 1

Does Love Die?

In the past five months Yoh, Anna, Kalia and Atrus all lived normal lives. Things were working out and everything was good for them. The morning in particular was one of life's finer moments. Kalia, Atrus and their five month old baby girl named Gabrielle. Atrus drove, Kalia sat next to him in the passenger's seat and the baby was safely fastened in her car seat behind Atrus' seat, so Kalia could see her better. As they drove they heard the song Linda Linda on the radio, a very bouncy and popular song, which they both sang along to. They were both smiling as they were driving quickly down a large stretch of road. Out of nowhere came a large water truck who was on their side of the road for some reason. Atrus naturally swerved to the left causing the large truck to smash into the passenger side of their vehicle. Behind them a truck and trailer tried to stop but ended up spinning around causing the trailer to smash into the already very badly hit passenger side. Kalia died instantly. Atrus held her tightly, her legs were in pieces. He just clung to her and cried for a few moments, then looked our the area where a window had been and saw pieces of her legs. Having only achieved a few bumps and scrapes he ran our his door and picked up the pieces then ran them over to her, trying to fix the woman he loved to the sound of his daughter screaming, traffic and sirens, not to mention his own sobbing. The paramedics arrived while he was still doing this and her turned to them helplessly.

"I can't fix her!" he exclaimed over and over again before fainting on the spot.

He awoke in the hospital shortly after confused. Yoh was in there with him looking very grim.

"What happened?" asked Atrus. "Where's Kalia and Gabby?" he wondered with all sincerity. Yoh took a long time to answer.

"Gabby is with Anna. Kalia is dead Atrus."  
"What?" asked Atrus still confused. "No she's alive, I brought her back. She's been alive for five months!" Yoh shook his head slowly.

"No, you were in a car accident. She died instantly."

"No." said Atrus. "She's alive, I brought her back. I brought her back!" he began to scream at Yoh and tears rolled down his cheeks. Yoh just stood silently, not sure what to say, unable to comprehend what Atrus was going through. He had completely filtered out the memory of the crash from his mind and probably believe that Kalia was alive, that they were still telling him she was dead from five months before. A doctor came in and did a couple tests on him, then discharged him from the hospital. Still suffering a great deal of confusion he went with Yoh to Yoh and Anna's house to see his daughter.

They walked in and were greeted with little Sakura crawling towards him. Just like Gabby, Sakura was growing like crazy. He couldn't believe that she was already crawling just like he couldn't believe his girlfriend was dead. He noticed Gabby laying and rolling on the floor and carefully picked her up and held her tight. He looked around again for Kalia but to no avail.

"Where is she?" he asked, still confused. Anna looked at Yoh.

"I told you." He answered." She died." Atrus shoved Gabby into Anna's arms and looked sternly at Yoh.

"Show me." He demanded.

Yoh first took Atrus to see his vehicle. It was badly smashed up on the passenger side yet the driver's side was perfectly fine, which would explain why he and his daughter were okay. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing so Yoh took him to the morgue. There she was, laying peacefully on the table. At leat the top half of her was, her legs were mangled with pieces ripped off entirely.

"No." whispered Atrus. "NO!" He began to scream. "You stupid fucking whore. Why would you do this! WHY DID YOU DIE? I SAVED YOU. " He began to sob and slump onto her. "Why… Stupid…" he mumbled as he placed his head on her chest. "no…"

Nobody knew what to do. Both Atrus and Anna were beside themselves. The only thing that could keep them sane would be for them to remember what they still have to love.

I'd like to dedicate this story to a man named John whose wife Linda recently died in a similar car accident. Linda was only 55 years old and did a lot of volunteer work in town so everyone knew and liked her. She had two daughters, one who just had a baby and one who's about to, and two step sons. It's very sad to see someone you know die.


	2. Chapter 2

Anna knew what Atrus was capable of. He saw the bruises that were on her skin, always fresh. After the first incident he calmed down a bit but didn't stop. He'd never stop, in her opinion. When someone he loves did something that he didn't like he'd always result in violence. Eventually Atrus' hurt would turn into anger and when that happened she didn't want anyone to be near him, let alone a child. She made arrangements with Atrus to take baby Gabrielle to live with her and Yoh until Atrus could recover. He never took care of the baby much before and she didn't know how much he was capable of doing. The baby deserved better. So that afternoon Yoh went over and gathered all of Gabby's things. She set the crib up in the large twin's room and managed to find a place for everything. This wasn't baby Toshi but it was a third child. Maybe it could fill the void of the missing baby, and now the one created with the loss of her best friend.

Ren and Horo were both very upset upon hearing the news, having both been close to them. Ren went over to spend time with Atrus and look after his friend. The best thing for Atrus would be to be around someone he was close to and someone who could help him vent his anger. Horo, on the other hand, went to spend the time with Anna and help her through loosing her best friend. When he arrived at Anna's house she was in the living room looking after Sakura, Haru and of course Gabby.

He looked at Anna compassionately and she just stared. Unable to contain herself, she burst out in tears.

"Why did this have to happen?" she asked the world. "Things were finally started to get better for her and now this. Now she's dead." Horo walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"Shh." He whispered. "Kalia was a good person and didn't deserve this. She loved Atrus, Gabrielle and you very much. I'm not that religious but I think that god wanted them to have their own guardian angel, and who better then her. No one will ever love them as much as she does. She'll always be looking after them, and you, no matter what." Anna sniffed a little, tears still rolling along her cheeks.

"She was my best friend. I wish there was something I could do to bring her back. I don't even think magic will work this time, her body is far too mangled. She's gone, forever." Horo nodded, unable to provide an answer to what Anna had said. Anna picked Gabrielle up softly.

"Poor girl lost her mummy. She's been over here before lots so she knows me but she'll be crying when mummy doesn't come to pick her up, when she doesn't get to sleep in her own house and room. How horrible it's going to be having to tell her that her mummy is dead when she gets old enough to ask where she is. And Kalia… She won't be there for her first steps, birthday, day of school, dance, boyfriend, her graduation, when she gets married and when she has kids of her own she wont have a mother to ask for advise." Anna was now crying again out of loss of her friend and sympathy for the poor child. "God knows Atrus won't do a good job looking after her, no matter how much he loves her. He loved Kalia yet he hit and yelled at her all the time. He doesn't understand what a relationship is."

"I know," replied Horo in agreement. "I hope she'll be okay. When is he going to take her back?"

"I don't know. Maybe never, knowing him. He could easily get out of this responsibility forever."

"I don't think he'll leave her. She's the spitting image of Kalia."

"You're right." She hugged Gabby softly. "Don't worry Gabby, I'll give you the best home possible for the time being. And you can always come and see me if things get rough." The baby cooed softly not understanding a thing that was going on, yet it gave Anna a sense of relief that at least the child could depend on her if she needed it.

Like Anna was there to take care of the children Yoh was there to take care of her. She held her as she cried and worried about everything. He stroked her softly and told her everything was going to be okay, although she was too stricken with grief to accept the idea that anything was _ever _going to be okay. Around the children and everyone else she kept on a brave, strong face but for Yoh it was her true emotions.

Slowly time began to heal some wounds. Looking after three babies occupied Anna and distracted her from thinking about the bad things she'd experienced, two great losses in less then a year. Gabrielle wasn't her dead baby Toshi but she was a third child and filled the void somewhat. Seeing as Atrus and Ren were spending more and more time together Horo-Horo frequented Anna's house to make sure she was okay and helped her out. They go out on walks with the babies or stay and home and watch TV together. It wasn't the same as being with Kalia but she liked having the company. If there was one thing about Kalia it was that she wanted to make everyone happy and she would have been pleased to see the progress Anna was making. I don't think anyone who dies would want their loved ones to be upset.

Atrus too was making progress when it came to grieving but not when it came to being a good person or father. It had been almost three months since Kalia's death and he had only been over to see his daughter a few times. Anna figured that maybe he didn't want the child or maybe it was just too painful to look at something that came from his girlfriend who was now dead. His house was a mess without someone to clean it. It was defiantly an unfit environment for a child to be raised in. The dishes were rarely done, the bed was never made, there was garbage laying around, he never once vacuumed or dusted, let alone washed anything, Atrus was defiantly the kind of man that needed a girlfriend. He had even broken some of the nice decorations Kalia had put up, partially because he was angry and partially because they reminded him of Kalia. Unlike many people might expect of a person of his type, he didn't go off and have sex with the first teenager to say yes. Since Kalia's death he hadn't changed their bed once, the sheets were dirty and smelt of sweat but still the faint scent of Kalia lingered on them and he wasn't ready to part with that. One day he would have to let go but until then he planned to hold on to everything he could. The decorations that weren't broken remained hanging on the walls and sitting on the shelves exactly where Kalia had placed them. He remembered fighting with her about having them there, he didn't like them then but now he loved them. She thought they looked nice and they would stay like that forever, she wasn't here now to decide where to put things and he had no clue.

Very slowly he recovered and, without Anna knowing it, was planning on taking his child back in the future.


	3. Chapter 3

(The right story this time… oops.)

It took another two months before Atrus could even begin to cope with reality again. Luckily for him and Gabrielle he had been working very hard during his grieving time because it distracted him so much from his pain. Having only to support himself during that time he had accumulated a lot of extra money. That didn't stop him from not only not buying a gift but also not showing up for Anna's twin's first birthday. She only had a few people over for the party and tried to enjoy it the best she could but a dark cloud loomed over her head. She was thinking about how Kalia was there for her in her time of need one year ago and how much she missed her friend. She was thinking about how baby Toshi would be one year old today with his brother and sister but he wasn't here, he was another person she loved that was dead. Instead of focusing too much on those things she tried to remember the important things. She was safe, she had Yoh who loved her and she had two beautifully babies Sakura and Haru, who were now both walking around the room chasing around balloons and playing together. Gabrielle, her almost adopted daughter, was crawling around behind them. Kalia would have loved to see this and she was very disappointed that Atrus wasn't there to experience it as well.

It was only a couple weeks after their birthday that Atrus showed up at their door, having not seen his daughter in over a month. He said hi to Anna who was cleaning up while the kids played on the floor. He picked up Gabrielle and told Anna that he was taking her home today. She was shocked.

"What? Why are you taking her home?" she questioned nervously.

"She's my daughter, I'll do what I want with her."

"Do you even know how to take care of a child? What does she eat? How do you bathe her?"

"I'll figure it out."

"Your house is a pig sty."

"I cleaned it."

"But what will you do with her while you're at work?"

"I have a lot of money, I can afford a babysitter."

"But…"

"I'm taking her and that's that. I'm going to get her things." He put her down and began walking upstairs. About twenty minutes later he had everything of hers loaded up in his new car and picked Gabrielle up.

"Do you want and money?" he asked Anna.

"For what?" she answered, confused.

"Looking after her."

"I did it for Kalia." Replied Anna, not really like Atrus. He looked as if he was going to kill her at that very moment but she didn't care. He turned to walk out but she quickly added. "If you need anything you can call me." He didn't answer and just left.

Anna broke down in tears. That child was not only filling the gap of two missing people but she felt as if Atrus would do a horrible job taking care of her and maybe even kill her too like he did to her mother. Yes Anna blamed Atrus for Kalia's death.

At Atrus' house things really were different in appearance. His mother had come over and cleaned up the house and went shopping for him. She had done the laundry and went shopping for groceries. She also taught Atrus how to do things like get the food and bottles ready and when he got home with Gabrielle she showed him how to do everything else, everything Kalia did. She was kind enough to stay with her son and his baby until he got used to looking after her and she made a great babysitter. She wasn't the reason Atrus turned out the way he did, it was his father who continuously abused his wife and son. Unfortunately instead of resenting the man he turned out just like him.

Maybe there was hope for Atrus and Gabrielle. Maybe love could hold them together and maybe Atrus would pass as being a man and a father. Maybe.


End file.
